CHAPTER IV.
THE BIG COON TREE.
"Hello, what's the matter with you fellows? Are you going to have awaltz, or is it going to be a two-step, or a catch-as-catch-canwrestling match? Perhaps you've suddenly grown very fond of oneanother."
It was Ted who spoke, standing in the doorway, laughing as if he wouldburst his buttons off, at the strange tableau in the middle of thefloor, Carl clinging to Bud, who was trying to shake him off.
"Let loose o' me," shouted Bud. "Why, ther feller's plumb daffy onghosts. He says as how this shack is haunted, an' he's plumb loco."
"Yah. Didn't we just hear der ghostes yell mit der outside?" said Carl,who had been thrust away from his clutch on Bud, and was standing in themiddle of the floor, trembling like one with the ague.
"Ha, ha!" laughed Ted. "Ghost, eh? It was me calling to the cattle, andsending them back from the line."
"Yah, aber I seen mit mine own eyes der green ones oof der ghost up indot corner, und heart him on der roof."
"Come outside, and I'll show you the footprints of the ghost," said Ted,leading the way.
Out in the snow by the side of the cabin Ted showed them several tracks,something like a small hand, which ended at the wall of the cabin.
"That's where the ghost went up," said Ted. "Let's climb the wall, andsee what is on the roof."
It was easy climbing up the log wall, for there were plenty offootholds.
When they were high enough to look over the edge of the roof, Bud gavean exclamation of surprise, and then burst out laughing, in which Tedjoined.
But Carl could not see the joke.
"It's a vild cat," he shouted, scrambling to the ground.
"It ain't, neither," asseverated Bud. "It's a bully little ole pet coon.That's what it is."
He held out his hand, and the coon, making a queer little chucklingnoise, came slowly toward him as he held out his finger, which thesharp-eyed little beast clasped in its fingerlike paw and pulled.
Bud reached out, tucked it under his arm, and climbed down with it.
"This yere coon was a pet ter ther fellers what rid line yere before,"said Bud, when they were in the cabin again. "He's been hangin' eroundever since, an' when he saw us he thought it wuz his ole pardners comeback. He's been taught ter swipe hats an' drop 'em down inter ther housethrough ther chimbley hole. That accounts fer it, an' I reckon he's therwhole ghost."
"Yah, mebbe I dinks so," said Carl, who looked rather sheepish at hisexhibition of fear.
"He's a smart little piece," said Ted. "By the way, Carl, get busy withthe pots and pans. I'm going to stay to supper and sleep here to-night.I've got the cattle and the boys planted, and it is too far to go on tothe ranch house to-night. Stella and Kit went back an hour ago."
Carl went to work to cook supper, while Bud played with the coon, whichwas as full of tricks as a monkey, and kept the boys laughing all thetime.
"A coon is a mighty smart animile," said Bud as they sat down to supper.
"So I've heard," said Ted. "But I've never seen many of them."
"Dere is no such beast in Chermany," Carl put in proudly.
"That's so," said Bud. "Ameriky is the land o' ther free, an' ther homeo' ther coon. Never went coon huntin', did yer, Ted?"
"I never did."
"Well, ye've missed some mighty good fun. Down in Missouri is whar thercoon grows wild an' independent, an' ther ain't one o' them what's comeo' age what ain't as smart as ary congressman you ever see."
"I've heard something about coon hunting," said Ted.
"It's great down in Missouri. Thar's whar ther coon trees grow."
"Vat such foolishment for?" said Carl, with a sneer. "Coons don't growmit trees on."
"Nobody said they could, but they live in trees, yer loony. A ole gumtree what's holler is ther home o' ther coon. Thar's whar ther best coondogs come from, too. Ever hunt coons with a dog?" continued Bud.
"Never did," said Ted. "It seems too picayunish fer me. I like biggergame than that. Besides, I don't care much fer hunting in thenighttime."
"Do they hunt mit der coons in der nighttime?" asked Carl, who wasbeginning to be interested.
"Shore! That's ther time ter tree 'em. My Uncle Fletcher out in oleMissou, we ust ter call him ole Unc' Fletch, had four or five coon dogsthat was ther cream o' the coon-huntin' canines in several counties, an'Unc' Fletch was out near every night chasin' coons."
"Many of them there?" asked Ted.
"Ther country was overrun with 'em. They ust ter eat all ther roastin'ears o' corn in ther bottom lands, an' git away with more chickens thanever those that raised 'em did, until it got so that ther farmers saidthey was only raisin' corn an' chickens ter keep ther coons fat."
"No money in that."
"Not much. But I wuz goin' ter tell yer what happened ter Unc' Fletchone night ter show how plenty coons wuz in his section.
"One night he starts out with his best coon dog, Ballyhoo, so calledbecause he made sech a noise when he treed a coon.
"Bally runs acrost ther scent o' a coon an' takes after it. Unc' Fletchtrails along, an' Ballyhoo stops at a big sycamore tree. But there don'tseem ter be no hole, an' after unc' looks around, an' can't findnothin', he calls Ballyhoo off, an' they start through ther woods ag'in.
"Pretty soon Ballyhoo scents another coon, an', by jing, it leads themter ther same sycamore. About twenty times that night they strikes therscent, an' every time it stops at the same tree.
"Now, Unc' Fletch wuz some o' a woodman, an' he says it ain't nat'ralfer ther dog ter tree so many coons at ther same place, an' wonders ifthar is somethin' wrong with ther dog, if he's gone daffy, er whetherit's jest an onusual smart coon what has gone out jest ter have a jokeby runnin' them ter ther same tree every time.
"While he is contemplatin' thus he is leanin' with his back ter thertree. Pritty soon he thinks he'll go home, an' he starts away sorterdisgustedlike with ther night's sport, an', by gee, he finds he's caughtby ther tail o' his coat an' can't break loose.
"He tries ter get away, but he's shore fast. He reaches around, an' thertree hez got hold o' him all right, an' bein' some superstitious, Unc'Fletch begins ter git some scared. Then he ricollects about hearin' thecolored folks talk about the haunted coon tree."
"Coons is ghostes, not?" asked Carl.
"Wait an' you'll hear," continued Bud. "Long about this time, Ballyhoobegins ter howl in ther most sad an' lonesome way, an' that don't makeUnc' Fletch feel any better. Jest as he's thinkin' about hollerin' ferhelp----"
"Why didn't he skin out of his coat, and leave it sticking to the tree?"asked Ted.
"I ast him ther same question, an' he says as how he was too plumbscared ter do sich a thing. But jest as he was goin' ter holler he findsthat he's loose, an' all his spunk comes back again.
"Then he begun ter be curious ter find out what it was that held himfast. He lights a fire an' gets a torch ter examine ther tree, but can'tfind nothin' that would hev cotched him thataway.
"But as he's lookin' ther strangest thing happens. Ther tree opens acrack runnin' all ther way from ther roots up as far as Unc' Fletch kinsee. Ther crack is big ernuff ter put yer finger in, but Unc' Fletchdoesn't do no such fool trick ez that.
"In less than a minnit ther crack closes up ag'in, an' thar ain't nosign o' it. Now this is some puzzlin' ter Unc' Fletch, an' he hez somemore o' them funny feelin's erbout ghosts, an' them things.
"While he's still watchin' ther tree, ther crack opens again, thencloses an' opens an' closes, same as if it wuz breathin'. This makesUnc' Fletch some riled, fer he wa'n't never a feller what can standbein' made a joke of, an' he thinks ther ghost in ther tree is havin'fun with him."
"What did he do?" asked Ted, when Bud stopped and looked reflectivelyinto the fire.
"Well, he starts out ter make a fool out o' ther ghost, if it is aghost, er outer ther tree, if it is jest a tree what is triflin' withhim.
"He has his ax with him, fer every real coon hunter always carries an axter
chop down ther tree when he finds a coon in it. But he wa'n't goin'ter chop down this tree none."
"What did he want with the ax, then?"
"I'll soon tell yer. First he chops down a small tree, an' he makes awedge with an edge erbout ther size o' yer little finger, an' he waitsuntil ther tree breathes ergin. Then he slips ther wedge in, an' hammersit home.
"'Ha, ha!' says he ter ther tree, 'ye'll make monkey-shines with me,holdin' me by ther coat tails, will yer?' An' all ther time he ischoppin' out another wedge, bigger than ther first.
"As he keeps choppin' out, an' shovin' bigger an' bigger wedges interther crack, he hears noises comin' from ther tree like what he ain'tnever heard before. But ther tree is beginnin' ter give out crackin'noises, too, like as if it was splittin'.
"While this is goin' on Ballyhoo is makin' a terrible fuss, an' jesttryin' ter tear ther tree down with his claws. At last ther tree bustsplumb open, an' what d'yer think Unc' Fletch sees?"
Neither Ted nor Carl replied. What the tree contained was a thingunguessable, but Carl's eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at Bud,awaiting the solution of the mystery.
"What did it contain?" asked Ted at last.
"It was plumb full o' coons," said Bud solemnly. "Thar must 'a' been twohundred coons in that tree. It was a regular coon hotel. They made it asort o' winter colony. Every coon fer miles eround made it home."
"But that doesn't explain the crack in the tree and the strange way inwhich it opened and closed."
"That's easy now that yer knows that the tree was holler an' plumb fullo' coons."
"I don't see it yet."
"Why, it wuz like this: Every time them coons drew a long breath itexpanded ther tree so that it opened a crack, an' when their lungsfilled the crack opened wide. Then, when they let out thar breath ag'in,ther crack closed tight ag'in. Unc' Fletch happened ter lean up ag'inther tree jest ez ther crack closed, an' that's how his coat tails gotcaught."
"And what became of all those coons?" asked Ted.
"Yer see they got inter ther tree through a hole in ther top. Unc'Fletch didn't dare leave ther tree alone, so he tied a note ter Ballyhooan' sent him back ter ther village fer a carpenter. When ther carpentercome they put a roof on ther tree an' made a door at ther bottom, an'let ther coons out one at a time. By this means they got every dodgastedcoon in them woods, an' Unc' Fletch's bounties was enough ter enable himter lift ther mortgage on ther farm."
"I guess that will do for to-night," said Ted, laughing. "I'm going tohit the blankets, for it's up at daylight for all of us. I only hopeyour pet coon does not attract so many others as to turn this sign campinto a coon hotel."
Ted Strong in Montana Page 4